The decision to call a general strike of all public and private sectors for the entire day of 22 September 2025 was taken by USB as a result of the large assembly that took place yesterday in Genoa, at the Port Authority Club, attended by a thousand people. It was an exciting assembly promoted by the CALP dockers together with the Global Sumud Flotilla, Music for Peace and USB, which saw the participation of students, workers, social movements and solidarity groups from all over the country.
The strike has been called in response to the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army's blockade of humanitarian aid and the threats against the international Global Sumud Flotilla mission, which includes Italian workers and trade unionists committed to bringing food and basic necessities to the Palestinian population. The USB also denounces the inertia of the Italian government and the European Union, which refuse to impose sanctions on the State of Israel and continue to maintain economic and institutional relations despite the gravity of the situation.

USB specifies that, should the situation deteriorate and the Israeli government prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza in the days immediately preceding 22 September, the Confederation reserves the right to bring forward the general strike. This prerogative is provided for in Article 2, paragraph 7 of Law 146/90, which allows for abstention without notice in the event of serious events that jeopardise the safety and security of workers and citizens. Essential minimum services will be guaranteed during the strike.
The focus of the Genoa assembly was precisely the organisation of the general strike and the blocking of goods and traffic. The list of interventions that followed in just over two hours was very long: the students of Osa and Cambiare Rotta reported that tent cities had already been set up in several universities and that the student movement had already joined forces with the workers. From Rome, the Movement for the Right to Housing denounced the relations between the Municipality of Rome and several Israeli companies and proposed to put pressure on all local institutions to sever these relations. From La Spezia and the Anti-Zionist Network, the need to stop Leonardo spa's military supplies to Israel was echoed.

Social centres in the north-east have confirmed their intention to block the port of Venice, while social centres in the Marche region have announced that they will call for a blockade of the port of Ancona. The former GKN collective has also supported the need to prepare for the strike and has proposed focusing mobilisations on ports and further expanding the mobilisation by preparing for a subsequent phase. USB logistics workers have announced that they will support the strike and mobilisations with determined action. Those from industry spoke out to denounce the process of military conversion of factories, as in the case of Flextronics in Trieste, where the government even supported the entry of an Israeli partner, and more generally the push by the government and businesses to bend civilian production to the logic of the war economy.
 

The assembly received a wonderful message of support via video from Francesca Albanese, who expressed her full solidarity with the port workers and the need to block the system. A video message also arrived from Syracuse from Josè Nivoi of CALP, ready to set sail for Gaza.
The assembly also received a strong signal of international solidarity: several ports, including Piraeus, expressed their willingness to join the mobilisation. This is a path that already looks ahead to the major international meeting of ports to be held in Genoa on 26 and 27 September.
Now it is time to move on to local and workplace organisation. The strike must be organised carefully, encouraging maximum participation and the possibility of mobilising all the forces that have been activated and the many that can still join in. In every city, in every local context, it is time for operational general assemblies.
'The word goes to the struggle,' said yesterday's assembly, which resulted in a march through the streets of Genoa in the middle of the night.
With Palestine in our hearts.

USB National Confederation